Walk-Off Homer by Bearcats Clinches Home Opening W

Baseball, my friends, is a beautiful game. For those of us in the Midwest, baseball signals the reappearance of the sun following its months-long vanishing act. The game of baseball dazzles the five senses. Bats crack; mitts pop. Grass is greened into diamond-shaped works of art. Upon metal bleachers, sun-soaked fans consume hot dogs and domestic beers by the truckloads. Ah yes, baseball is a beautiful game, especially here in Cincinnati…

But long before the Opening Day parade and the Reds have taken the field at Great American Ball Park, the Cincinnati Bearcats are well into their season. Yesterday, the Bearcats played their home opener against the Northern Kentucky University Norse.

While I have been a sporadic college baseball fan over the years, this was the first game I’ve personally taken in at Marge Schott Stadium. And it is with great joy I can announce:

I had a lot of fun; and

In dramatic fashion, the Bearcats won!

Late in the game, the Bearcats trailed 3-0. Then, in the bottom of the seventh-inning, Manny Rodriguez singled home two runners to make things interesting, 3-2 — Norse still up a run. Tension building, the University of Cincinnati took the plate at the bottom of the ninth, still trailing by a run. The scene was set for disappointment or dramatic exuberance.

After a pair of singles and a sacrifice bunt, UC had runners at second and third as left-handed batter, Treg Haberkorn, took the plate. On the first pitch, the southpaw from Leo, Indiana blasted a towering homerun over the right field wall, tracing toward Fifth Third Arena. The walk-off, three-run homerun was good enough to hand the Bearcats a 5-3 victory over the Norse in their first home game of the season.

I had my camera ready to record the celebration growing behind home plate, as the team waited on southpaw Haberkorn to touch all four bases. Undone by the emotion of the moment, however, I failed to hit record and captured only the remnants of a celebration…

I know, I know, impeccable journalism. Oh well, next time…

Anyhow, this much I can assure you, Andy and I will be covering many of the home baseball games this season. If you would like to join us, I welcome the company and may even buy you a box of Cracker Jacks. Go Bearcats!